Overview
- The Department of Justice on Saturday issued grand-jury subpoenas requiring four New York Times reporters to testify in Manhattan and the paper says it will challenge the orders.
- U.S. security officials recommended that the president use an older, heavily modified VC-25A for part of his return from the NATO summit in Turkey because staff felt that jet has specialized defensive and secure-communications systems.
- The Air Force and the White House say the Qatar-donated Boeing 747-8 meets core mission requirements, while aviation and security experts and some lawmakers say the plane’s accelerated conversion likely left out or deferred certain defensive and communications integrations.
- Reports say federal agents in some cases hand-delivered the subpoenas and that the Justice Department insists reporters are not the investigation’s target but that it must find officials who leaked classified or sensitive security assessments.
- The dispute raises ethics and oversight questions about accepting a foreign-donated presidential jet and could prompt congressional probes, legal fights over reporter protections, and a chilling effect on reporting of national security matters.